5-2-402. Appointment by board of county commissioners. (1) When a vacancy occurs in the legislature, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the board of county commissioners or, in the event of a multicounty district, the boards of county commissioners comprising the district sitting as one appointing board.
     (2) Whenever boards of county commissioners sit as one appointing board, selection of an individual to fill the vacancy must be as follows:
     (a) The chairman of the board of county commissioners of the county in which the person resided whose vacancy is to be filled shall call a meeting for the purpose of appointing the member of the legislature, and he shall act as the presiding officer of the meeting.
     (b) Each commissioner's vote is determined by the following formula: 100 multiplied by (A divided by B) multiplied by (1 divided by C), where A is the total votes cast in the respective county for the person vacating the legislative seat or, if such person was not himself elected, the votes cast for the last person to be elected for the current term, B is the total votes cast for that person in the legislative district, and C is the number of authorized commissioners on the board of the commissioner whose vote is being determined. If a vacancy occurs in a holdover senate seat after holdover senators have been assigned to new districts under each reapportionment, the formula must be applied using the votes cast for the senatorial candidates at the last election in which such votes were cast. Such votes shall include only those cast by electors residing in the new senate district for senate candidates of the party to which the person vacating the seat belonged. The secretary of state shall provide an estimate of the number of votes so cast, by county or portion thereof.
     (c) The person selected to fill the vacancy is the one who receives the highest number above 50 that results from the calculation required by this subsection (2). If no candidate receives a number higher than 50 from that calculation, the selection board shall cast its votes again in the same manner for the persons receiving the two highest numbers.
     (3) The appointment of a legislator under this section must take place within 15 days after the vacancy occurs.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 179, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 198, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 43-215(1), (2), (6); amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 493, L. 1983.